Sheryl Underwood Responds to Duggar Family With Revelation About Her Abusive Past

On Thursday's episode of The Talk, Sheryl Underwood opened up about her past experiences with sexual abuse and blasted Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar after they discussed their son's controversy on Fox News' The Kelly File. “I went through that [at] 3, 4, 5 years old," Underwood shared.
The Duggar parents explained in their interview with Megyn Kelly that their son Josh confessed in 2002 about inappropriately touching his sisters. But they did not intervened until 16 months later. Like the Duggar children, Underwood felt unprotected. “I didn't sleep. I learned how to stay up as long as I could...I may sleep at school, because nobody is going to protect me. So I had to protect myself.” She added that her abuse had a negative impact on her ability to love and build relationships, noting that she felt she was less than. “I felt that I deserved this or brought it on myself because of what was coming towards me from my parents.”

In their interview, Jim Bob said, “Looking back, we did the best we could under the circumstances.” Underwood disagreed with how the Duggars defended their eldest son’s actions. “There's no way you can say this as parents, you're wrong,” she said. "Families have to protect families and [shouldn't] rationalize violation.” Thankfully, Underwood had a couple family members who came to her aid. “I thank God for my older brothers who took an action on my behalf.”

Deonna Anderson is an Oregon-based visual journalist and editorial assistant at For Harriet. Connect with her @iamDEONNA.